China denounces U.S. call to register Chinese journalists as agents

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This content was published on November 16, 2017 10:13 AMNov 16, 2017 - 10:13

National flags of the U.S. and China are seen in front of an international hotel in Beijing January 17, 2011. REUTERS/Jason Lee

(reuters_tickers)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China denounced on Thursday a U.S. congressional commission that accused its state media of involvement in spying and propaganda and called for their staff in the United States to be registered as foreign agents.

The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its latest annual report that while China had tightened restrictions on domestic and foreign media, its state media had rapidly expanded overseas.

The commission, created by Congress in 2000 to monitor national security implications of U.S.-China trade relations, said China's state media expansion was part of a broader effort to exert greater control over how it is depicted globally, as well as to gather information.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang they had seen the report.

"This commission that released the report has always been full of prejudice on China-related issues," Geng told a daily news briefing.

"Much of the content in the relevant report is sheer fiction, and many of its views reflect their bias against China," he said.

China urged the commission to put an end to its "wrong words and actions" and really play a constructive role in promoting the development of Sino-U.S. ties, Geng said, without elaborating.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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